ZWF: Congress' saddest breakup
Zander's Weekend Facts #72: Sunday, June 25, 2023
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, House Republicans can’t stop tripping over themselves, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast! Episode 109 features a breakdown of everything you need to know regarding the second indictment of former President Donald Trump. Plus, Zander takes a look at how abortion laws have changed across the country in the year since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Go download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, June 25, 2023:
House Republican relationships are imploding
While there’s many things you can’t count on Congress for, at least we had the friendship between two of the Republican Party’s, um, loudest members.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert used to be best friends. Doing everything together from heckling President Joe Biden at the State of the Union to being the only two lawmakers to vote against a bill reauthorizing a bone marrow transplant program. And don’t forget the time the two attended a white nationalist rally together.
But see, nothing this exemplary could last forever, it seems.
The two apparently didn’t see eye-to-eye regarding January’s endless House Speaker vote. And Boebert apparently doesn’t even agree with one of Greene’s signature takes, that Jewish space lasers are starting wildfires in California.
And all their disagreements seemingly came to a head on the House floor on Wednesday.
As first reported by the Daily Beast, Greene addressed Boebert as a “little bitch,” leading to a follow-up article by Semafor entitled, “Marjorie Taylor Greene explains why she called Lauren Boebert a ‘little bitch.’ As Greene so eloquently explained, “She has genuinely been a nasty little bitch to me.” Greene is now reportedly in danger of losing her membership in the House Freedom Caucus.
The dust-up was in reference to competing resolutions the two had to impeach President Biden. Of course, Boebert’s resolution accusing Biden of orchestrating an “invasion” of the U.S. through immigration policies, does according to The New York Times use just a little bit of language from a racist conspiracy theory. So it might not be on the most secure footing from a legal standpoint.
Not to mention that since the Trump-era Title 42 has ended and the Biden administration’s immigration plans have been enforced, unauthorized border crossings have dropped drastically. A drop of 70% in the first three weeks of the new policies compared to the last week under Title 42. And that the Biden policies allow only 46% of single adults who have crossed the southern border to legally claim asylum, down from 83% from 2014 to 2019.
But have no fear! Even if Republicans can not succeed in their long-standing request to impeach the president for… reasons, they will still attempt to enact legislation clearly aimed at providing great benefit to the American people they represent. Expunging the two impeachments of dear leader Donald.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from the Washington Post - Marjorie Taylor Greene called Lauren Boebert a . . . what?
What Zander’s been reading
Tornado alley in the U.S. has long been thought of as comprised by midwestern states such as Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. In recent years, however, tornadoes have become more prevalent in the southeast, making scientists believe states like Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee are more at risk than ever of experiencing dangerous tornadoes.
Check out this week’s featured article at Scientific American - Watch Out: Tornado Alley Is Migrating Eastward - (Apple News link)
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NBA Draft: During Thursday night’s NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs selected Victor Wembenyama with the first overall pick. Wembenyama, one of the most hyped prospects in quite some time at 7’5”, is from France and spent the last year playing for Metropolitans 92 in the LNB Pro A, the highest league in France. Alabama forward Brandon Miller was chosen second by the Charlotte Hornets, with Scoot Henderson, who played for NBA G League Ignite, was drafted third by the Portland Trail Blazers. Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson were chosen by the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons with the next two picks, the first pair of brothers to be drafted together in the first five picks since the ABA and NBA merged in 1976.
Concacaf Nations League: The United States Men’s National Team won their second straight Concacaf Nations League title with a 2-0 win over Canada in last Sunday’s final. With Chris Richards and Falorin Balogun both scoring their first goals for their country, the U.S. remains the only nation to win the competition, with the only previous edition coming in 2021. The second Concacaf competition this summer, the Concacaf Gold Cup, began on Saturday. The USMNT opened group stage play against Jamaica on Saturday night, drawing 1-1. The Americans will face St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday at 10:00 pm et and Trinidad and Tobago next Sunday at 7:00 pm et in their remaining group stage matches. Wednesday’s match airs on FS1, while Sunday’s match will air on Fox.
U.S. Open: Wyndham Clark won his first major golf tournament last Sunday, besting the field at the Los Angeles Country Club in the U.S. Open. Clark, who won his first PGA Tour event last month at the Wells Fargo Championship, finished at -10, one shot ahead of Rory McIlroy at -9, who hasn’t won a major championship since The Open in 2014. Scottie Scheffler at -7 and Cameron Smith at -6 came next on the leaderboard, with Rickie Fowler, Min Woo Lee, and Harris English tying for fifth at -5. The final major of the year, The Open, will begin on July 20 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club just outside of Liverpool, England.
FIFA Club World Cup: On Friday, FIFA announced that the United States will host the first edition of the new, expanded version of the Club World Cup in 2025. Previously only featuring seven clubs (the champion of each confederation and one from the host nation) and taking place every year, the new edition will feature 32 clubs and is expected to be held every four years in the summer before the men’s World Cup. Currently, ten spots have already been clinched, including UEFA clubs Chelsea, Manchester City, and Real Madrid and Concacaf clubs Leon, Monterrey, and Seattle Sounders. In addition to four Concacaf clubs, the U.S. will also get an additional entry as host.
NCAA Marijuana: An NCAA medical panel recommended on Friday that marijuana no longer be included on the organization’s banned drug list. The Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports’ recommendation must be adopted by the NCAA Board of Governors in order to take effect. The committee is also recommending that the focus be shifted to testing for performance enhancing drugs.
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Russia Mercenaries: The Russian invasion of Ukraine took a dramatic turn in the last few days after heavily armed members of the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization, began marching toward Moscow. The group’s leader, former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, had captured the city of Rostov before turning toward the capitol in a “march for justice” he claimed was meant to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders. On Saturday, Prigozhin sent out a video message saying that the group was turning around after getting within 125 miles of Moscow. A deal to guarantee the safety of the group’s members and get them to turn back was brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to his office.
Justice Samuel Alito: In a new report published by ProPublica, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was found of attending a luxury fishing vacation provided by a Republican megadonor in 2008. The megadonor, Paul Singer, owns a hedge fund that had several cases before the Supreme Court, of which Alito recused himself from none. By not reporting the trip on annual financial disclosures, the report notes that Alito may have broken a federal law requiring justices to disclose most gifts. Before the article was published, Alito published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal arguing he did not need to report the trip or recuse himself from the cases.
Hunter Biden: Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is expected to plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay taxes after cutting a plea deal. Biden, who became the first child of a sitting president to be federally charged, had been under investigation for the last five years by federal prosecutors. An additional felony gun possession charge could be dropped if Biden meets certain conditions. David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2018, cut the deal.
Titanic Submarine: A submersible traveling to view the wreckage of the Titanic in the northern Atlantic Ocean likely imploded last week. The search for what was deemed a missing sub, Titan, operated by OceanGate, an American tourism company, drew widespread attention beginning last Sunday. However, after an international search, all five passengers are presumed dead after it was determined that a “catastrophic implosion” likely occurred. It has also been found that OceanGate did not receive safety certification for Titan.
Immigration Court Case: The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of the Biden administration in a case regarding deportations of immigrants. In an 8-1 vote, with only Justice Samuel Alito dissenting, the court ruled that the Biden administration’s plan of prioritizing deporting immigrants who pose the greatest risk of safety or were picked up at the border can go into effect after previously being blocked. The challenge to the plan came from several Republican-led states, who argued that federal law requires the government to detain and expel illegal immigrants even if they pose little to no risk. The court ultimately determined that the states had no legal standing in the case.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
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That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, July 2, 2023.
